1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of cementitious products and, more particularly to cementitious products including one or more organic additives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pool construction begins with excavation of the pool basin followed by installation of plumbing and reinforcing steel within the basin. The reinforcing steel is covered with a concrete mixture such as gunite or shotcrete. After the gunite or shotcrete cures, additional tile, coping, and electrical work is completed. The final step includes the installation of a finish over the gunite or shotcrete that provides an attractive decorative surface as well as seals the underlying rough gunite or shotcrete surface. Such a finish should provide a reasonable degree of resistance to physical damage from everyday usage. Such a finish should also be resistant to chemical attack from atmospheric pollutants and water treatment chemicals. Traditionally, pools were finished with a “pool plaster” mixture containing white Portland cement, marble or limestone aggregate, fillers such as sand, and smaller quantities of miscellaneous additives such as set accelerators and pumping aids.
While pool finishing technology remained relatively stagnant, pool water treatment technology continued to evolve in the face of environmental and health concerns, and to meet consumer demands for ease of use, and economics. Current pool water treatment regimes often rely upon the use of acidic sanitizers such as bromochlorodimethylhydantoin. The use of acidic water treatment chemicals has been blamed for staining, etching, scale formation, and overall deterioration of the alkaline pool plaster traditionally used to finish the interior surfaces of swimming pools. In particular, it has been observed that the smooth finish typically used on the surface of the pool plaster makes defects attributable to physical damage or chemical attack quite noticeable.
Consequently, newer finishes have been developed to at least mitigate the adverse visual impact of such physical damage or chemical attack. One finish that has gained in popularity over the years is an exposed aggregate finish that may sometimes be referred to as a “pebble finish.” Such exposed aggregate finishes rely on the dispersal of one or more adjunct aggregates and one or more colorants in the plaster prior to application. The adjunct aggregate and colorant containing plaster is applied conventionally and smoothed on the interior surface of the pool. After application, a portion of the upper surface of the finish is removed to expose the underlying adjunct aggregate and to provide the exposed aggregate finish. While damage from improper water treatment or conditioning may occur to such an exposed aggregate finish, the presence of the exposed, irregular aggregates and colorants in the finish tends to mitigate the visual impact of such damage. Stains, repairs, and other blemishes are also more easily disguised against the irregular surface of the exposed aggregate finish. The benefits afforded by exposed aggregate surface finishes have resulted in widespread acceptance and demand for such finishes.
New approaches to improving the workability, ease of application, and performance of exposed aggregate finishes for pools and other structures are therefore desirable.